The Rowing Victoria Safety Management Plan states that all rowers must demonstrate swimming competence, 50m swim, by 30 September if they do not wish to wear a PFD while rowing.
It has been suggested (by some hardcore crazy people) that those that have not done it yet can do so at camp in Bairnsdale. While this is definitely possible I am also going to propose a Melbourne based event for those that a) aren’t going to camp or b) think the Mitchell might be a little too cool (or are too soft to take the plunge in the Mitchell).
Date: Saturday 5 September
Time: 9.30am
Location: Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Albert Park (Outdoor Pool)
Cost: $6.95 (adult swim pass)
For those that wish to attend the Melbourne swim please contact Emma at [email protected] so she can advise you of the exact meeting place.
Emma (with some edits)
The Thursday after a bad sporting weekend
For the diehard Australian sports fan there is not much to write about but plenty to groan about following one of our worst weekends in our recent sporting history.
Not only did we lose the urn to the Poms, but we lost the rugby to the All Blacks by a solitary point and Collingwood has firmed as equal favourites for this year’s flag.
Not since 1996 Atlanta Olympics when the Australian Olympic team appeared at the opening ceremony in green tunics and cream trousers have we, the sporting public of Australia, been faced with such a national sporting crisis.
But wait, don’t go burning the boxing kangaroo flag yet, there maybe light at the end of the tunnel.
Flicking through Monday’s sport section of the Age, past the cricket, football, soccer, rugby, racing, tennis, golf and badminton, I at last find something to cheer about. GOLD in the discus and pole vault and BRONZE in the 4 x 100 metres relay and long jump at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin….Our new national sport have arrived, when was the last time the Poms won the discus and the pole vault at a world champs….take that England!
This lads (to use an English term) is the type of mind set we need to take into the row on Thursday. The weather man has predicted yet another harsh start to the day with more gale force winds to add to an already impressive number of wind affected days we have experienced in the past few weeks.
Needless to say we will be doing some work on the leg drive, not necessarily by choice but from necessity if we are to get any sort of boat speed into the wind.
No session plans to post other than we are going to need to be patient, focused and working as a group if we are going to extract value out of rows in these types of conditions.
See you all Thursday. Simon
Gray Matters and tips on how to preserve a hair do
Hi Rowers, Sorry for the late email.
Nicole and her boat had an RDO yesterday (well so she says but as she just wandered in blue with cold I’m thinking the winds may have blown her FAR upstream and it’s taken her 27 hours to get back) so after a morning of obediently painting paperclips black and yellow yesterday I took advantage of the situation and disappeared to Rowbust to coordinate my sock, croc, undie and zootie combinations in the latest spring colours.
So we now have 6 days left of winter. So that means that every night this week you need to eat soup, followed by a roast (with Yorkshire puddings if you know what they are) followed by hot pudding (chocolate or sticky date up to you), put your electric blanket on and wear your slippers, and under no circumstances do your legs.
6 days (and 7 nights) is also a movie! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120828/ Remember that totally unbelievable romance with Anne Hesche from when she only had eyes for Ellen and Harrison Ford looking like he was about 80 lost in a jungle, talk about lack of chemistry, I think if they had been lost in the jungle they would have been more likely to turn each others into canoes than to kiss.
The B team were let down by their hair last week, pouring rain and work meetings and that fact that we didn’t bring swim caps or have shaved heads has ruined our reputation in Simon’s eyes as we departed for an early season strategy meeting for country regattas and resumed our debate of parma or lasagne the night before a big race (over coffee to invigorate our thought processes) after deciding we wouldn’t be able to pull an erg under 4.99 before 7am. To regain lost ground we’ll be meting at 3am to erg before heading out at 4 on Thursday morning doing a few laps of the island, bringing the boat in for some rack time at about 6.15 and heading out again after that.
What do Rowers and Michael Jackson have in Common?
- Glove / s
- Siblings
- Medallions
- Split second timing
- Parents
- Not being the lover of Billie Jean
- We’re black and yellow he’s black and white
- Michael had some erg (some say lawn mower starting) inspired dance moves
- We all like / liked to party.
Bring your moves along on the 11th of September and dress up. This is code for a party at RRC on Friday 11th September…more details to come.
Time Trials Goss Statistical reports just through from our department analyst which have just arrived on my desk highlight the fact that it’s highly likely the women’s team can open their own jars, as the women’s 8 was only 10 seconds (or about 3 boat lengths) behind the men’s 8.
Such were the lovely weather conditions that one (are they soft?) crew abandoned the race before the island. JL (MNB) decided to swap seats mid race without warning or notifying his buddy in his ‘new’ seat and a number of crews fall well behind their best times.
This is good news, as unless there’s a Tsunami we should be able to beat these times next time.
Ergo’s Ok, 6 days left of August, better get that August ergo in, see if you can make it to the shrine.
Regatta Saltwater regatta, Saturday Sept 13th. It’s a 4.5 km twisty course in quads.
The men’s eight is busy training for a shot at taking out this years sprint title at the world famous annual Dimboola Regatta.
Katie Gray
PANS (PA to Nicole Studka, previously PA to JK until she was transferred to the Darwin Oar Rowing Society and now champions the DORC’s up there)
Tab rockets to $18
Just when we thought that funds would be a bit lean for the Bairnsdale Camp, enter the two favourites Kevin and Martin who have racked up a couple more frequent sleeper points to increase the tab to $18.
Unfortunately the GPS didn’t get a work out this morning as it spent most of its time in Mike’s jacket pocket resting from being overworked by the glamour quad on Tuesday.
I will look at setting it up in the boat (it has a mount) so the cox can read it without having to wear it (or find it in their jacket pocket) or alternatively we can attach a line and a hook to it and throw it out the back and see if one of those pesky Dolphins will take a fancy it to while we are doing X km/h down the river.
Despite the bit of rain, both the four and the eight showed plenty of good form on the water this morning and we even managed a few comments from other coaches along the bank….
Other Coach: ”They are looking alright, what are they training for?”
Simon C: “Dimmy”
Other Coach: YFI type look followed by “Oh”
Just a reminder that we need to make sure we are at the club 15 minutes prior to push off so we are on the water pushing off for 0630. Today there were only four people at the club at 0615 and as a result we didn’t get going until 0650 which cuts into the amount of time we can spend on the water.
Finally…Welcome into the fold Jono, good to have you on board and great to see that you had to accept a lolly from Vickers during your first session at RFC…awesome.
Simon C
Rowing this Week
The GPS has been tried and tested and I am pleased to say that the quad of gorgeousness has been tagged the quad of awesomeness as a result of the numbers the GPS spat out for at least 100 metres of Tuesday morning’s session.
We will continue to experiment with the gadget tomorrow during our morning row…should be fun.
Tomorrow we will do two long laps in the eight and two short laps in the smaller boats and Saturday we will add an additional lap for a bit of variation.
This week we will be doing a bit of square blade work in various part crew combinations to emphasise the release, posture, length of the back (from the tap down to the time the knees ‘pop-up’) and hand heights during the recovery sequence.
Essential that we get this part of the stroke right as it provides the platform for the length and steadiness that we require to set the boat up for an accurate catch and ultimately effective leg drive.
We will also throw in some low rating power work to give the new gadget something to do and Elaine some numbers to provide you feedback on.
Have a good day and we will see you bright and early tomorrow….Simon C
Gray Matters – Life and times of a hard core cask wine ergo chick
Good Afternoon Rowers,
Winter Update, is now at 14 days to go, still a while, I mean the Cuban Missile Crisis was only 14 days and enough happened in that time to bore us all silly in History classes for the next few decades. 14 days is also a moive!! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898887/ Albeit not a very famous movie, it stars the infamous Patricia Wolf, who google images tells me could look like this or maybe like this or possible slightly older and look like this so keep an eye out for her whichever one she might be in B grade movies in the future. It seems it’s a move about a boy band in their hey day and scores 3 stars out of 10, I’d tell you exactly how Patricia fits in to this plot but by the way my computer keeps aborting the action it may not be family viewing.
Needless to say, $14 is a pretty average bottle of wine (yes there are exceptions and this is coming from the person who has drunk more than their entire bodyweight in cask wine over the years) and 14 donuts is possible, 14 slices of pizza a maybe, just not 14 pizzas. So the number definitely getting more manageable, especially with the fine forecast for the next 3 days.
Ergo’s
OK, time to start nagging for the August ergo’s. The B team again pulled commendable erg scores, their average propped up by their stroke with piston like legs once more and are now experimenting with pasta / music / steroid combinations as they prepare to pull their next erg so hard that the machine winds up on the tan track tripping up Kew mothers, Labradors and hot triathletes.
Reports in state that people erging consistently are improving on water and in their 10 min monthly ergos. So if you’re not erging and are constantly getting over the loud speak “3 seat blah blah” or yelled from the cox “harder on (coincidently) your side” or possible from a slightly curious Joe “why is your oar not going at the same time as the other oars”. Then get going. The Boss is not so ivory tower not to recognize that JLs ergos are very very very challenging (but good for you). Last week said senior manager was spotted bailing after 8 out of 15 intervals, like an energizer bunny she was clearly powered by music; her excuse was her ipod ran out of power.
Regatta
Saltwater regatta, Saturday Sept 13th. It’s a 4.5 km twisty course in quads, let the boss know if you would like enter a crew by this Saturday August 22! So far we have 5 crews(2 mixed and 3 girls) crews expressing interest. But no guys without chaperones (soft)!
Time Trials
Shame we weren’t all ducks yesterday, or snails, frogs or tulip bulbs, just plain old rowers getting rained on. Not ideal, but saves you washing your hair this week. Well done on the time trials for two 8s and three 4s. The DS are particularly hard core, because they went out first in the worst weather and in 4s (rather than 8s) and after a narrow brush with saturation managed to prepare a fantastic rowers breakfast which included fruit, yogurt and muesli.
Let’s Camp
CAMP please sign up by this Friday Aug 21! Follow this link http://3.25.77.84/bairnsdale-camp/
Katie Gray
PANS (PA to Nicole Studka, previously PA to JK until she was transferred to the Darwin Oar Rowing Society and now champions the DORC’s up there)
Timetrial One
Galeforce winds, rain, hail and a few boat stoppers were some of the highlights of the first RRC time trial for Season 2009/10.
The crew of Dennis (stroke), Alex, Troy, Matt, John (JL), Barry, Martin, Nick and cox Elaine did the round the island time trial in 34min 16 sec to set a bench mark for this years four race series.
Stroke Dennis Beck said that the crew had come unstuck on a few occasions with the wind at one stage catching the boat, elevating JL from his seat and almost tipping the boat.
“Needless to say that we will be looking for a stronger performance next time round should we get better conditions” he said.
Gray Matters
Good Afternoon Rowers,
Winter Update, is now at 21 days to go. 21 Days is also a movie! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032179/ A Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier showdown where he killed her husband who she hadn’t seen for 3 years anyway, not much of a husband, can hardly imagine poor Viv having to open her own jars for 3 years. Also 21 days is apparently all it takes to change a habit, imagine! so it might be an opportunity to create the new you. Be a vegan? Recycle everything, ride a unicycle while drinking a coffee (anyone else seen that guy along the Yarra in the mornings?) cut down to 3 sugars in your coffee, row every day! Clean the boat in, out, and the oars, your cox and the racks EVERYtime you row! Think of all the fun you could have for the next 3 weeks. For me 21 reminds me of a sailor suit, fake tan, VERY blond hair and my parent’s cleaner getting along VERY well with my aunt, oh that was a good party.
Coxing the Boys
Arnie has put her hand up, but Arnie is already doing loads for the club, it would be nice for some other paddlers to sit up the front with the guys on a Thursday morning. We still need someone for Saturday afternoons as even by calling themselves the C team they have not yet reached our level of adulation in Joe’s eyes and are unlikely to be able to steal her for the long term. It’s your chance to help out and also to practice some coaching and coxing.
Time Trials
Time trial Round 1 of 4: From in front of the club, around the island and back. The DS will be heading off at 9:30 am to get a head start (KIDDING) no so they can cook tasty brunch for us. Everyone else meet at the club at 9:45 am and for a 10 am push off. Pease confirm your attendance with your squad bosses or coaches. Target crews for on the water include men’s 8, a men’s 4, 3 DS 4s, and 2 women’s 8s. You need to be there, TRUST ME it may be the only chance you have of a trophy this year, unless you work at McDonalds and provide excellent customer service, or have volunteered with the CFA for 25 years 09 could be a desert, so come along for your chance of a medal in our time trials.
Let’s Camp
Simon Crunden (MNB) has posted the details here http://3.25.77.84/bairnsdale-camp/ here is a brief outline, for more details check out the link.
Date: Friday 25 September to Sunday 27 September 2009
It’s for 3 days, so start going to the toilet each hour from 9am on Thursday, eventually leave at about 2 mumbling about chicken from your freezer and the time the power went off. For those whose bosses don’t fall for it you can come and join us on Friday night but the cost for camp stays the same whether it’s 2 or 3 days and crews and training is a lot easier to manage if rowers attend all three days. Word about town is that it is Grand Final weekend, this shouldn’t affect you unless you play for Geelong or Hawthorn or Croydon or whoever on earth plays in the AFL, let’s face it, many of us row because we can’t catch.
September training camp heads back to Bairnsdale www.gippslandtourism.com.au/Bairnsdale/ Your chance to combine tourism with rowing! It is one of the best weekends on our calendar (along with our Guinness book of records attempts to fit the most number of people in a room at Corowa). It’s a great opportunity to eat a parma and work it off the next day!
This year we will be travelling to and from Bairnsdale by train Cinderella style in our own private carriage. The train will depart Flinders Street station on Thursday evening and arrive at Bairnsdale where you will have a short walk to the salubrious Mitchell Gardens Caravan Park.
There will be loads of rowing, some technical sessions and some looong sessions. Loads of fun, social, wine, pub and eating sessions. Can’t go wrong really.
What’s the damage?
RRC Members: $215 inclusive, and what do you get for this outlay? You Cinderella style train journey, Accommodation (3 nights), All meals (breakfast, lunch and dinners), Trailer fees (petrol for the poor b*tard who has to tow that MASSIVE TRAILER and this does not include money to replace bins which we run over on street corners) Group team building session (pass the orange perhaps?), Coaching, Video analysis sessions (so take waterproof mascara and experiment with slowing the slide), Wine tasting (to be confirmed).
Optional Extra’s:
Bed linen (pre booked): $8.00 (could be an idea unless you plan on hopping in with someone else, or of course bringing your own) Guaranteed double bed (subject to availability): $15 (I’m leaving this one alone) you’ll need to pay for the Friday train if you can’t make Thursday with the rest of the gang, prices on the web.
RSVP
Not your specialty I know, but you need to confirm you are attending the camp by Friday 21st August and pay by the 31st of August.
Click Here To Book and Register for Camp
Katie Gray
PANS (PA to Nicole Studka, previously PA to JK until she was transferred to the Darwin Oar Rowing Society and now champions the DORC’s up there)
Men's Squad update – 10 August
Great rowing last week and a bit of a huff and a puff after three laps and some good solid work at the lower ratings.
I am feeling good about how well the boat is travelling at the moment. We still have a few little individual technical issues to work on and I am confident these will disappear as we continue to improve on the general structure of the crew.
This week we will be consolidating our set-up off the back turn into the recovery. Boring as bat poo I know, but this is where we need to get it right if we are going to more the boat more effectively.
Plan of attack this week is 60 minutes on the Thursday and 90 minutes on the Saturday. Again we will be looking for good solid steady state rowing focusing on the leg drive with a bit of higher rate stuff to keep things interesting.
Elaine is back this week and we should have Mike for Thursday so there should be no need for us to be loitering around the girls change room this week trying to woo Jo into coxing for us. Speaking of Jo, she is out this Saturday getting some eye candy so we will need to look for another cox for Saturday unless we do the coxless number again.
I am sure most of you did your ergos last week but have failed to post them onto the spreadsheet as you couldn’t access it. If that is the case, drop me an email and I will fix this up for you as I have done for a couple of you already. For those of you who have had a FTE (Fu#k the Ergo) moment, then come and have a chat to me and we will see what we can do to rectify the situation.
We also have pencilled in the calendar this Sunday @ 10:00am the clubs first round the island time trail. For those who cannot make both Saturday and Sunday let me know as my preference would be for you to row on the Sunday so we can get a score on the board which we will hopefully improve on throughout the series.
The Development Squad (DS) will be putting on lunch after the row and rumour has it there will be some bacon and eggs on show.
Finally…sign up for Bairnsdale Rowing Camp…at this point in time I am coaching a pair. I have planned to have 12 attending from the men’s squad…if you cannot make it let me know…details on the club website www.richmondrowing.com.au/bairnsdale-camp.
Simon
Back in 2004
Back in 2004 the club embarked on a very successful 24 hour ergo challenge. To cut a long story short, we went on the media campaign frenzy to promote the event and managed to get a few mugs on various television promotions including this one…feast your eyes on the man in seven seat…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD_OgiG0IF8